Method and apparatus for facilitating the starting and the landing of aeroplanes



y 1,536,283 L. BREGUET S FOR FACILITATING THE STARTI G- AND May 5, 1925.

F AE ed Aug. 25, 1922 v Y, /M/

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e m M I M J. l

s. n nan LoUIs EEEGUET,

'Patented May'S, 19.25'.

` [UNITED STATES or rAEIs, EEA'NcE, As'sIGNoE To sooIETE ANONYME nEsATELIERS DAvIATIoN LoUIs BREGUET, or rAnIs, FRANCE.

METHOD AND ArrAEATUs For. FACILITATING .THE STARTING AND THE LANDING EAEnorLANEs.

Application led August 23, 1922. Serial'No. 583,811.

To all whom it may concern-f Be it known that I, Louis BREGUET, acitizen of France, and. a resident of Paris,

' France, have invented new and useful Imaeroplane; it is necessary thatit should bear with the least possible weight upon its land- ,ingchassis in order to avoid ruptures when the aeroplane rolls on theIground over obstacles. Absence of wheels would alsobe a great advantagefor an avion, as it could be adapted with facility fog combined land andwater use, the same fuselage provided with skids or runners beingyenabled to descend upon land ,and sea.

In order to .obtain this result, the present invention comprises the useof an atmos- 'phere maintained under pressure under each aeroplane wingbymeans of a suitable air `fan or compressor 'which is driven by themain engine or engines, or even by auxiliary engines. This will disposebetween the lower planes in the case of a biplane, or under the singleplane'in the case of a m'onoplne, an atmosphere under pressure which issubstantially Independent of the speed of the avion and may even prevailwhen the Ilatter is in the stationary position, i. e. when nottravelling. In this manner the weight `otf the avion, 'even beforereaching any speed,V will be at once" reduced to avery small amount, and'thesliding of the ISkils or keelof the fuselage on the Iground maybecome sufficiently easy to be able to disi Thefollowing description,together withc the accompanying drawings which are pense with-- thev useof rwlfieelswith their shock-absorbing devices.

given by way of example, sets forth the present invention.

Fig. 1 is an elevationalview of an avion for land and water .use whichis provided with a device according to the invention, and Fig. 2 is acorres ondin front view. Fig. `3 is a modified orm o a detail' of Fig.1./ n A y The plane of the 'zvionA, Fig. 1,- has coexte'nsive withV theactive edge a hinge a serving as a ioint for the movable plane or Hap ac which is'provided at the end with a band of leather or' india-rubber bc intended to sweep over the ground or the surface of the water so as toform a suiciently tight joint.y At the rear part of the plane.l

A ismounted in like manner a flap d e f, ehlnged at d, which can belowered into con- Vtact with the ground orl the water and may beconstituted byma flat member analogous to` the? front flap or lby theend of the main plane itself which is suitably hinged at d,

` Fig. 3; it is .also provided at the-lower edge with a band of leatheror india-rubber. The

fiap a: b c is preferably made'of flexible ma 'terial so that whenfolded up it is enabled to it upon the curved forward end of the plane.

The respective axles a, d, of the aps a b c, d e f, are each providedwith various arms a d Z which are connected together in pairs by a rodlc l whereby the two flaps are enabled to move in co-operation, `andsaid rod serves for the control of the starting and stopping of amaehineM such asan air fan, compressor or the like which is driven by themainvengine or by a special engine and delivers compressed air Ybetweenthe planes and the ground through a suitable conduit. A spring R issecured to the plane A and to the flap a c and `tends to hold the latterconstantly open, but it is s'o disposed as to yield to the. res'sure orrthe outer face of said ilap whic .is due to the forward travel of theaeroplane. The said. spring lhas a variable tension which is con,-

trolled bythe pilot.

Each of the lateral ed es of the main plahe is provided with a inge g,Fig. 2,' servin .as a `joint for the flap `g k which is bordered at thelower edge .by a leather or india-rubber band h g and is controlleddirectly by the pilotby a. cable r1-attached at h and disposedon a suportin lley 1' situated within the main p ane A.

When starting the avion, the front, rear and side aps haveftherespective 'positions a b c, d'ef (Fig. 1) and g h g(F1g. 2). Themachine M (Fig. l), delivers air under ,pressure into the receptacleformed by the plane A, the ground, the aps a b c, c? e f,J

Ig h g, and this provides a sustaining power which is proportional tothe pressure sup-- plied by the com ressor and is under the pilotscontrol.

. and acts upon the rod Z so as to draw the arm d Z in the same sensewhereby the flap movement of t d e f also closes up. When the aeroplanereaches normal speed, the llap a: b 0 is applied at a b1 01 against thelower face of the plane A, and the flap d e f occupies a like position de1 1. By suitable means the e rod k Z is caused to stop the compressedair machine M. The pilot operates the cables r1 to raise the side flapsg h' g to the position g h1 g1, Fig. 2.

Upon landing, the speed diminishes, and the resistance of the air isthus diminished according to the square of the speed. The

spring R, Fig. 1, pushes out the flap a. b c and the latter willautomatically operate the starting of the machine M by means of the rodla Z, and hence the flaps 4a b c and d e will be lowered towards theground. The pilot releases the cable 1'1, Fig. `2, so as to allow theside flaps g h g to assume the vertical position. When all the flapscome close to the ground or the water, the atmosphere under ressure willprevail, and the air delivered y the compressor can only/escape throughvery small outlets, so that the avlon will light in an easy manner upona layer of compressed air which forms in fact an air cushion for thispurpose. Furthermore when the said flaps become extended, this willafford a considerable resistance'to forward travel and the aeroplane is'thus strongly braked upon the air. v

The said arrangement for opening` and closing the flaps is givensolely'by way'of example, and it is obvious that the invention may becarried into eect by like de vices serving to maintain an atmosphereunder pressure between the planes of the avion and the ground.-

That I claim is: I

1. A device forthe starting'and landing of aeroplanes when in theimmediate vicinity to a landing surface, comprising a receptacle belowthe Wings of the aeroplane formed of a plurality of unfolding surfacesextending in close proximity to the landing surface, said receptaclebeing open onthe side adjacent said landing surface. and means forproducing an atmosphere" under pressure' within said receptacle.

2. A. device for the starting and landing of aeroplanes comprising aplurality of hinged walls secured to the lower surface of the wings ofsaid aeroplane, means for moving said walls to such position that themeans for controlling said flaps, two flaps i hinged to the front plane,air compressor under the control of said rod`and adapted todeliver'compressed air and rear edges ofthe f between the said flaps.and a" spring adapted to pivot the front longitudinal flap when theYspeed of. the avion' becomes reduced.

4. A device'for the starting and landing of aeroplanes when in immediatevicinity to the landing surface, comprising two fiaps hinged to thelateral edges of the plane, means for controlling said aps, two flapshinged to the front and rear edgesof the plane, a rod conne ting thesetwo flaps, an air compressor undgr the control of said rod and adaptedto pivot the rear longitudinal flap when the speed of the avion becomesreduced, and bands of flexible material dis,- posed along the lower edgeof said llaps and insuring` the tight working between the pneumaticreceptacle formed by the said flaps and the surface upon which the avioneffects the landing. 1

A5. The method of lightening the weight on`the landingA chassis of anaeroplane at the time of starting or landing which cona.rod connect-ingthese two flaps, an,

sists in forming a receptacle between the landing surface and the lowerside of the wings of the gaeroplane, utilizing the land-v ing surfacefor the lower wall of said receptacle, and producing an atmosphere underpressure in 'said'receptacle f In testimony whereof I have signed thisspecification. LOUIS BREGUET.

